pie secrets

You need:
Our old friends butter, sugar, eggs and flour.

250g butter
250g sugar: use castor sugar for best results
2 eggs, lightly whisked
500g flour
Method:
You can vary the flour according to what you are making. For instance - if the pastry is for an apple shortcake, make the entire 500g self-raising flour, rather than plain flour, to give a nice light result. However, for patty pan pies, it is better to use 490g plain flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder. This will reduce the 'lift', and you will have a thinner, crisper pastry.

Part of the flour component can be replaced with custard powder (60g), and added flavour can be introduced with finely grated lemon, orange or tangello rind.

Refrigerate the pastry for half an hour before using.

A tip - when placing a fruit mixture into the tart base, brush the base with a little lightly-beaten egg white. The fruit mixture should not be too 'wet' or the pastry will be soggy. To avoid this, thicken the hot stewed fruit with a little cornflour, mixed to a paste with cold water. Custard powder can be substituted for the cornflour, which is very acceptable, particularly for gooseberries.

Ideally the fruit should be cold when put into the pastry case, but I've been known to cheat with a lukewarm mixture with no ill effects...

My daughter Courtney is currently the family expert at making this sweet pastry.